We were right down with the worms today as we got knee deep in our compost area! There are a couple of reasons we need to get to know our wiggly friends a little better… Our vegetable patches needed to have a good spread of our compost to prepare them for the spring planting. We were able to mix to the compost with the horse manure we were delivered last summer.

The manure had been mixed 50/50 with wood mulch, been covered and had been breaking down. We were all amazed at how all the smell disappears over time - Mother Nature doing a great job there.

We spread the enriched soil onto the beds. The compost was jam packed with red worms who were working on breaking down the vegetation - one of our regular volunteers explained how the red worms break down the vegetation and the white / grey ones (we commonly see in our gardens) consume the soil. Ideally we should keep the red ones in the compost but thats a task beyond even the most patient of us!

Another motivation to start clearing the compost area is we are beginning to create more space for our Men in Sheds group that meets each Tuesday. The popularity of that group means the they now need an extra shed to create additional work benches and space for their tools.

The area where our current compost is makes the most sense as we do have a second compost area further to the back of the acre - time for the worms to move again!